Ray's Rhayader!
By TMX Archives on 4th Jun 08
PAR Honda's Ray Rowson made a welcome return to racing after a four month injury lay-off to claim opening honours at the first round of the long-standing Rhayader club's Evening Motocross Series, at a damp and dreary Cwmythig Hill, on Wednesday night.
After sitting out the opening half of the season with cracked vertabrae, the result of heavy fall at the Hawkstone International, the current British Under 21 champion used the race as warm-up before the weekend's British GP and twice beat out Rhayader regular, ARB Kawasaki's Mark Jones to claim top honours and top prize money on the night with Jones' ARB team-mate Jamie Lewis claiming third.
Persistent drizzle and fog conspired to put the dampeners on the opening salvo of the ever-popular series and Expert class entry, and spectator attendance was surprisingly low, but with full line-ups of Senior, Junior and Novice classes, and a tricky, tacky track to tackle, there was undoubtedly plenty of entetainment for the fans, the Novice boys in particular making for some ‘interesting' viewing on the slick surface.
For some reason the usually well supported Expert class was low on top-level riders and many of the names regularly seen at Rhayader, perhaps down to the GP, perhaps down to the weather, but with some of the best prize money in the country on offer, it was surprising not to see more riders hoping to line their pockets.
Of those in attendance, current British number four, Mark Jones, was the undoubted favourite but the short, sharp track and 10 minute races that Rhayader specialises in make anything possible and one mistake can cost you the race, as it did to Jones in the first of the three heats.
The ARB Kawasaki rider grabbed the holeshot from Rowson and Lewis and was comfortably in control of the race during the early laps until an enforced error saw him drop back to third with the rear mudguard hanging off.
From there, Rowson inherited a lead he extended comfortably to the flag to take the win while Jones battled back to second, with Mark Hucklebridge also finding a way past Lewis to take third place while Ashley greedy rounded out the top five.
Moto two was a more straight- forward affair for Jones and he again grabbed the holeshot, this time taking it to the flag in convincing, unchallenged fashion as Rowson gated second but could not quite match the pace of his rival. Local ace Kip Herring found his form second time out too, to cut through the pack for third place at the flag from Lewis and Hucklebridge.
Moto three was the race of the night. With a thick fog bank rolling in over hills taking visibilty down considerably, Rowson and Jones battled it out for the overall honours on the night for the entire race.
Rowson led from the gate but Jones was right on him from the off as they pulled clear of the chasing pack and edged in front on more than one occasion, only for Rowson to regain the advantage almost immediately. It was cut and thrust stuff but Rowson eventually pulled enough of a gap to take the win, the overall, and the top money on the night. Jones came home second in front of team-mate Lewis while Ashley Greedy and Kip Herring again rounded out the top five on track, and on the night.
The testing conditions meant crashes littered the lower classes and a first moto fall almost cost Senior class victor Robert Devonald-Batt his shot at the win.
A spill in the claggy whoops was followed up by a KTM that was more than a little reluctant to start and as Philip Lloyd took the win on his Suzuki, Devonald-Batt scored just three points for 13th place. It wasn't unlucky, however, and he swept to the remaining two wins to just edge out the consistent Gareth Hickey and Kevin Hughes for the win, thanks to those two wins, after the trio all tied for the overall on 43 points.
On the countback, Hickey too just bested Hughes for second overall after beating him home by one place in the final moto.
Luke Davis reigned supreme in a Junior class that saw three different winners, a second moto win and final race runner-up giving him the overall from opening heat victor Jason Williams by four points, while Lloyd Jones rounded his night off with a win but could not claim any higher than third after a poor opening moto.
The fog claimed the last Novice class race so just two heats decided the overall as many struggled with the tricky track conditions. Consistency was the key and Andrew Evans bagged the overall thanks to 5-1 finishes with George Wozencraft and Joseph Varley rounding out the podium.
RHAYADER & DMCC EVENING
MOTOCROSS SERIES
Rd 1 - Cwmythig Hill, Rhayader
EXPERT
1 Ray Rowson (450 Honda) 20 + 17 + 20 = 57
2 Mark Jones (450 Kawasaki) 17 + 20 + 17 = 54
3 Jamie Lewis (450 Kawasaki) 13 + 13 + 15 = 41
4 Kip Herring (450 Yamaha) 10 + 15 + 11 = 36
5 Ashley Greedy (450 Suzuki) 11 + 10 + 13 = 34
6 Carl Brogden (450 KTM) 9 + 9 + 10 = 28
7 Mark Hucklebridge (450 Kawasaki) 15 + 11 + 0 = 26
8 Ady Smith (250 KTM) 7 + 5 + 0 = 12
9 Marc Roberts (250 Kawasaki) 6 + 6 + 7 = 19
10 Carl Jones (450 Honda) 4 + 5 + 9 = 18
SENIOR
1 Robert Devonald-Batt (250F KTM) 3 + 20 + 20 = 43
2 Gareth Hickey (450 KTM) 11 + 17 + 15 = 43
3 Kevin Hughes (125 Yamaha) 17 + 13 + 13 = 43
4 Phillip Lloyd (250 Suzuki) 20 + 4 + 17 = 41
5 Eirwyn Roberts (250 Honda) 10 + 15 + 9 = 34
6 Duncan Powell (250 Yamaha) 15 + 11 + 7 = 33
7 Joe Preston (250 Honda) 13 + 8 + 6 = 27
8 Alec Everitt (250 Suzuki) 8 + 5 + 10 = 23
9 Aled Bellis (250 Honda) 0 + 10 + 11 = 21
10 John Caine (450 Kawasaki) 5 + 7 + 8 = 20
JUNIOR
1 Luke Davies (250 Suzuki) 13 + 20 + 17 = 50
2 Jason Williams (450 Kawasaki) 20 + 11 + 15 = 46
3 Lloyd Jones (450 Kawasaki) 7 + 17 + 20 = 44
4 Kristian Jones (450 Honda) 17 + 9 + 11 = 37
5 Matthew Thomas (125 Yamaha) 11 + 15 + 10 = 36
6 Oliver Seaborn (250 Yamaha) 10 + 13 + 8 = 31
7 Daniel Evans (250 Kawasaki) 9 + 8 + 13 = 30
8 Jacob Grossman (250 KTM) 6 + 10 + 9 = 25
9 Jason Rowlands (450 Honda) 5 + 6 + 7 = 18
10 John Riggeard (250 Yamaha) 8 + 7 + 0 = 15
NOVICE
1 Andrew Evans (250 Kawasaki) 11 + 17 = 28
2 George Wozencraft (125 Suzuki) 17 + 10 = 27
3 Joseph Varley (450 Yamaha) 15 + 8 = 23
4 Richard Paine (250 Honda) 9 + 13 = 22
5 Martin Rowan (250 Honda) 10 + 11 = 21
6 Barney Moore (250 Yamaha) 20 + 0 = 20
7 Craig Watkins (250 KTM) 0 + 20 = 20
8 Christopher Higgins (450 Honda) 13 + 6 = 19
9 Scott Isherwood (144 KTM) 2 + 15 = 17
10 Matt Willey (250 Gas Gas) 8 + 7 = 15
Next Round – June 18.